Note: This article contains discussion of topics including sexual assault.
Casualty spoilers follow.
Former Coronation Street star Melanie Hill has shut down the possibility of her character Cathy Matthews returning to Weatherfield. Cathy was first introduced back in 2015 as she formed a friendship with Roy Cropper, which later developed into a relationship.
During her time on the soap, Cathy was at the centre of various storylines, including her struggle with hoarding, discovering her late husband’s infidelity with her sister, and calling off her wedding to Roy.
After seven years on the cobbles, Cathy grew weary of her mundane life with her boyfriend Brian Packham and decided to move away. In her final scenes, she bid farewell to her loved ones before setting off for her new life in Chorlton.
While appearing on Lorraine on Friday (30 January), Hill was asked about potentially making a comeback to the ITV soap, as her character wasn’t killed off during her exit storyline.
ITV
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“Of course, you haven’t been written out, so there is the door, again, for something like that. [It’s] open,” pointed out host Lorraine Kelly, to which Hill replied: “I think my last scene was off in a taxi cab off to Chorlton. I’m happy in Casualty.”
The actor joined Casualty in 2023, playing clinical nurse manager Siobhan McKenzie. After arriving at Holby ED, the no-nonsense Siobhan helped whip the team into shape, proving herself to be a firm but fair leader.
Recent episodes of the BBC medical drama have put Hill at the centre of a huge and harrowing storyline, as Siobhan was attacked and sexually assaulted while walking home at night.
Photographer://BBC
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“I think it’s a story that needs to be told, because bad things happen to people of all ages. Men and women. To approach it with an older character in the actual aftermath, I think is an important story,” shared Hill, who has also appeared on Waterloo Road.
She added: “What’s good is we haven’t sensationalised it. It literally just happens so quickly, it’s the actual medical things that happen to her afterwards – that’s the story that we want to tell, being a medical drama.”
Coronation Street airs on weeknights at 8.30pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Casualty airs on Saturday nights on BBC One and now streams first on BBC iPlayer, where episodes are released at 6am on the day of transmission.
Read more Casualty and Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepages.
If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information from Rape Crisis England and Wales, which works towards the elimination of all forms of sexual violence and sexual misconduct, on its website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland’s helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.